Europe
Pritchard is a leading Eurosceptic. Pritchard defines himself as a "main stream Eurosceptic".
He was one of the so-called leading “Tory Rebels” who oversaw the largest post-war defeat of any Conservative government concerning a European Referendum.
Pritchard has called for an “in out referendum” on the European Union. Central to Pritchard’s argument is that “The majority of Britons living today have never had a say on Europe”, what Pritchard refers to as “the great disenfranchised”.
Pritchard was one of the architects of the motion calling for a ‘real terms cut’ in the EU’s Multiannual budget in 2012. He was joined by fellow eurosceptic MP, Mark Reckless, to draft the so-called ‘Reckless-Pritchard amendment’ which saw David Cameron’s government defeated over the issue.
Pritchard calimed that the vote would “strengthen David Cameron’s hand in Brussels”. During the EU Budget debate in the House of Commons he said, “One way in which the Prime Minister’s hand can be strengthened is by having a united Parliament rather than a disunited Parliament when he goes to Brussels to negotiate on my birthday, 22 November.”
Read more about this topic: Mark Pritchard (politician)
Famous quotes containing the word europe:
“The Cold War began with the division of Europe. It can only end when Europe is whole.”
—George Bush (b. 1924)
“You can always tell a Midwestern couple in Europe because they will be standing in the middle of a busy intersection looking at a wind-blown map and arguing over which way is west. European cities, with their wandering streets and undisciplined alleys, drive Midwesterners practically insane.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)
“That land is like an Eagle, whose young gaze
Feeds on the noontide beam, whose golden plume
Floats moveless on the storm, and in the blaze
Of sunrise gleams when Earth is wrapped in gloom;
An epitaph of glory for the tomb
Of murdered Europe may thy fame be made,
Great People! as the sands shalt thou become;
Thy growth is swift as morn, when night must fade;
The multitudinous Earth shall sleep beneath thy shade.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)